About the eBook

In this four week mini Bible Study you will examine your faith and what it means to have faith in God.

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

Our faith begins with what we know and believe about God. Our faith will carry us how far we are willing to let it take us. Faith is a choice and we need to begin by choosing to believe in Jesus and His power to move mountains, heal the sick, and save us from all our sins through His sacrifice on the cross.

When we believe in God we then learn to walk in faith and trust God. But first we must believe, and it’s up to us, we can either choose to believe in Him or not. But faith will mean nothing until we believe with all our heart that God is who He says He is.

Download your free copy on Kindle TODAY!

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

Hagar’s story is one that begins with good intentions, but shows the importance of patience and seeking God’s will while waiting for Him to fulfill His promises to us. Abram and Sarai were promised a child to receive Abram’s inheritance and to carry on his lineage, but Sarai was unable to bare children. In that era, women who were unable to have children were shunned, and made to feel less of a woman. The only reprieve Sarai seemingly had was to give her maidservant to her husband, in hopes that she will bare him a child. Hagar would then become the second wife of Abram and the child would be considered Sarai’s. They believed it would fulfill the promise God made them. Although what they had done was customary to the women of those times, it introduced a host of other issues in the lives of everyone involved.

The major issue that would ensue was the scorn that Hagar had for Sarai, after knowing she had conceived a child with Abram. If they had waited on the Lord to execute His perfect will, they would not have had these problems. In Sarai’s jealousy and frustration, she caused Hagar to run away because of her mistreatment. Hagar experienced a life altering occurrence. The angel of the Lord appeared to her while on the road to Shur. When asked where she was coming from (and going), she explained why she was leaving her mistress, Sarai. It was then she was told to submit to Sarai and that her descendants would be too numerous to count. The angel of the Lord also gave her instructions on naming her son and explained that he would be a wild man, living in hostility towards his brothers. She gave this name to the Lord. “You are the God who sees me,” she said. “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Hagar then bore Ishmael, Abram’s first son.

Hagar’s story is significant because it shows God’s mercy even in self inflicted trials. When the angel of the Lord visited Hagar, it is the first time in scripture something of this magnitude happened. It was an honor that the angel named her son Ishmael, God will hear, and He showed her compassion. The Lord heard her cry and even in her wrong doing, He comforted her and gave her the strength to face her problems. Although Hagar had been wrong for her scorn for Sarai, Sarai was also wrong for her ill-treatment to Hagar. Abram could have avoided the series of problems that he faced if he would have had faith in God’s promise and didn’t interfere with His plans. The story of Hagar shows the willingness of God to help us and also His mercy.

We as followers of Christ and children of God should learn from the mistakes of everyone involved in Hagar’s story. There is no problem too big for God to fix. He will right our wrongs, if we allow Him to.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:4

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31

And Jesus said to him, ” `If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

Like so many Christians, the Psalms speak deep into my heart. When I have gone through a stormy season in my life, the Psalms have been an anchor to keep me in place. The words of the Psalms so often mirror what’s in my very soul.

Continuing in the series on the Psalms, in this post, we are looking at the second type of Psalm, the Psalm of lament. To lament means “to feel or express sorrow over.” The Psalms contain more laments than any other kind of psalm. Many dark feelings are expressed in the laments: grief, fear, anger, despair, loneliness and pain. How many of us have experienced these same feelings during dark seasons of our life and turned to the Psalms for comfort?

The laments, like the other genre’s, have a typical structure. Nearly all the laments (minus two) flow from a complaint or plea to ending in thanksgiving or praise. Specifically, laments begin by expressing feelings, followed by asking for something the author needs, and ending with an affirmation of trust in God.

The structure of these laments give us a model for coming to God with our own laments. God wants us to tell him how we feel. He wants us to come to Him with our grief and pain. In your own laments, tell Him each feeling you are experiencing. Tell Him about the pain you are suffering, the circumstances that trouble you, and the worries that hound you. Additionally, these laments show that we can ask God the tough questions of life, such as “Why?” “How long?” and “Where are you?” Ask Him the your own questions that plague you, “Why me?” and “How long will I suffer?”

We can also ask Him for what we need. The laments often cry out asking God for relief, healing, or rescue. We can ask the same. Ask God for healing from sickness. Express your need for relief from trial. Cry out for rescue from evil. Whatever it is that you need, cry out to the Father who hears you.

Like nearly all the Psalms of lament, end your own lament with thanksgiving and praise. Thank Him for His faithfulness. Express trust and confidence that He will answer. Tell Him that you believe and trust that He will take care of you.

Read a few laments for yourself. See the flow and structure of these laments and write out your own lament as a prayer to the God who loves you.

For further reading: Psalms 3, 13, 42, 120, 142

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

Have you ever seen a driver of a car lose control? In a split second they went from hands steady on the wheel, foot on gas ready to break, eyes focused on the road oblivious to the distractions around him, to a frightening view of death due to an accident. That is how fast we can lose control when we start compromising; giving in to desires and not staying grounded in Christ.

Dangers of Not Having Self-Control

Relationship Dangers

The lack of self-control is risky to relationships. When we live to satisfy our own desires our relationships suffer. The reason this happens is because we are being selfish – plain and simple. We focus on ourselves and what WE want when we fail to rein in our lack of self-control. In turn this can cause us to neglect our friends’ and families’ needs in the process.

Health Dangers

There are a ton of instances where not exhibiting self-control can affect our health, but almost all of them boil down to us not seeing the reward as being valuable enough or happening quick enough to resist the temptation. Let’s take exercise as an example. Almost everyone knows they should exercise because of the wonderful health benefits we receive when we do. However, many of us opt to not keep fit and give excuse after excuse for not doing so. The reward of doing such is phenomenal – increased health, better body tone – but the cost or time required to see results is too great for many of us. We would rather be comfortable than prepare our bodies for a long prosperous life.

Spiritual Dangers

Another danger, perhaps the most dangerous one of all, caused by a lack of self-control rests in the deceiving lies the enemy tells us and we believe. Satan works extremely hard to keep us focused on ourselves and our own desires instead of being focused on how we could be a blessing to those around us. These lies pull us further and further away from God and our purpose in life. When we give in to these fleshly wants, we are allowing Satan to win. We are basically admitting that we have allowed him to take control of us.

The lack of self-control can be dangerous not only to our bodies, but our minds, our self-esteem, and relationships just to name a few. Because a solid grasp on self-control is necessary to fight the demise of all of these things and in turn who we are as children of God, it is extremely important that we decide what is truly important in our lives and pursue those things, acting with self-discipline every step of the way.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

Published:  2012 (second edition)

Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers

Overview

The Life Application Study Bible is rich with thousands of “Life Application Notes” which help you take the Scripture and apply it to your daily living.  Including Book Introductions, Profiles of Biblical Characters, Illustrated timelines, Cross References, Colorful Maps, a detailed Master Index, as well as a Dictionary/Concordance, the Living Application Study Bible is designed to bring the Scripture to life in a way that encourages you to live out the Scriptures as a believer in Christ.

As a reader of the Word, you can follow topical studies, learn more about historical and cultural meaning and significance in the passages you read, and glean from the collaboration of more than 100 contributors and several renowned scholars who sought to provide an accurate rendition of God’s Word from the original texts in a manner that is easy to read, understand, and study.

Character studies include both a highlight of the life or recorded moments of the specific character, strengths and accomplishments, weaknesses and failures, lessons to be learned, vital statistics, and key verses.  A deeper look into a person that is revealed in Scripture allows for a clearer understanding of the passage, and how that person’s life can impact the reader.

 The New Living Translation was produced in English as “the closest natural equivalent of the message expressed by the original-language text, both in meaning and style.”Rather than competing with other translations or versions of Scripture, the goal of this particular translation is to bring the truth of the ancient texts to life in a language that you could understand easily.

My Review

I grew up on King James Version, and KJV only.  I don’t knock it and most of the Scripture I memorized growing up was from the KJV.  I appreciate the text a great deal, but do not disparage other translations.  While it is important to differentiate between translations and paraphrases, it can be very useful to search Scripture from different texts to obtain a clearer understanding of the ultimate message of God’s Word.  With the NLT, the reading is less awkward and has a more natural flow.  Using words I understand, I get a more vivid picture of what is taking place in the particular passages I read.

The Study Helps in the Life Application Study Bible are invaluable to me.  Whether I am reading for my daily portion, or want to study more deeply, this Bible is one I can turn to regularly to help clarify my study, and bring new life to my reading.

[I received a copy of this Bible from Tyndale House Publishers for free during a Facebook giveaway, and am a member of the Tyndale House Publisher Blog Network.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.]

Disclosure: Some affiliate links have been used within this post.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

For the first time ever, Desires of My Heart is available for FREE on Kindle!

About the eBook:

The TRUTH is……You don’t have to be perfect to delight in the Lord. You don’t have to have it all together, or have the perfectly balanced life. For so long I thought before I could move forward in certain areas of my life I needed to at least have a perfectly balanced life.

But now I realize that isn’t so. God will bless your efforts, and He will honor your humility. So when you feel like delighting in Him requires action from you to improve or be better at being a Christian, know this, God is strong where ever you are weak, and your actions for the Lord will not go in vain.

I will say it again, God will honor your humility. When our hearts are filled with pride we remove our self from the presence of the Lord, but through humility we experience God in a whole new way, and that is when we finally know and experience what it means to delight in the Lord.

You do not have to be perfect, and the “Desires of My Heart” eBook is not about being perfect, it is about BECOMING – or moving – towards God and living a life delighted in Him, which will come when our hearts have been changed by Him.

Desires of My Heart is a devotional eBook based on Psalm 37:4. So many of us believers walk our Christian walk without really knowing what it means to delight in the Lord. In this eBook we answer that question “What does it mean to delight in the Lord?” “Desires of My Heart” is a powerful eBook that will help you work to get past any barriers you may have that is inhibiting your walk with the Lord, while also encouraging you to live a life guided by The Holy Spirit.

Download your copy today!

Don’t have a kindle? No worries! You can still read “Desires of My Heart” for free through the free Kindle reading app. You can download the app to your smartphone, computer, or ipad. Download the Kindle reading app here.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

About the eBook

In this four week mini Bible Study you will examine your faith and what it means to have faith in God.

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

Our faith begins with what we know and believe about God. Our faith will carry us how far we are willing to let it take us. Faith is a choice and we need to begin by choosing to believe in Jesus and His power to move mountains, heal the sick, and save us from all our sins through His sacrifice on the cross.

When we believe in God we then learn to walk in faith and trust God. But first we must believe, and it’s up to us, we can either choose to believe in Him or not. But faith will mean nothing until we believe with all our heart that God is who He says He is.

Download your free copy on Kindle TODAY!

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

I love the book of Psalms. It’s speaks to me at a deep level, in the distant recesses of my heart. It speaks to my fears, sorrows, pains and wounds. It resonates with my all that my heart believes about God. The Psalms is a place where I can meet with God in honesty and authenticity.

The Psalms are written as Hebrew poetry. They were written over a period of about a thousand years. Many were written by David, other by worship leaders, and a couple were written by Moses. The Psalms were used in temple worship and many still are used in churches today.

While the Psalms is a book of poetry, not all of them are the same. There are different types of Psalms. In your own reading of the Psalms, you will have noticed that some are quite sad and others are joyful. There are about three main types of Psalms: the Psalm of praise (or hymn), the Psalms of lament, and Psalms of Thanksgiving.

In this post, I will address Psalms of praise.

The Psalms of praise affirm the fact that God is good. They are joy filled and praise Him for all the good He has done. He is praised for His glory, wisdom, redemption and the wonders of His creation.

Most Psalms have a structure or specific flow to them. The Psalms of praise generally open with an invitation to worship God (see Psalm 113:1). They then move into the reasons for praising God, such as descriptions of His attributes or the beauty of His creation (see Psalm 148:13) Finally, they close with an affirmation of faith or another call to join in praise (see Psalm 103:20-23).

Read and study the following Psalms, noting the three-part structure of each. Use different colored pens to underline each of the three parts. Psalm 8, 29, 65, 113, 103, 148

What have you learned about God in these Psalms? What reasons do we have to praise Him? Perhaps try to write your own Psalm of praise to God, following the same three-part structure.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!

Self-control begins with an understanding that you cannot have everything you want just because you want it. For example, food in moderation is good, but eating in excess and with a lack of restraint can be bad for your health and well being.

Why is it so hard to control yourself when you want something? Sometimes you feel like you just have to have it, and have it right now. Whatever your temptation is, maybe for you it is food, cigarettes, alcohol or sweets, you have a hard time saying no to yourself where this thing is concerned. There may be many areas in life where you need to have self-control, but find it difficult to maintain. Why is it so hard to deny yourself when in some cases you know the end result of your lack of willpower will lead to health problems, dependency, or worse?

We Have Become a Society Who Wants Everything NOW!

Not in a few minutes, not in an hour or a day or months, but INSTANTLY! The root of the lack of self-control is that most people want immediate gratification. We live in a society that is fast paced and with lots of pretty things that we want; even if they aren’t the best thing for us. Think about food! Americans tend to eat in excess. Why is that? Because we are bombarded, everywhere we go with commercials and billboards that encourage us to supersize our order. The fast food companies prey on our inability to resist our desires. While good for the businesses pushing the ads, it’s anything but helpful for those of us who pull out our wallets because we can’t fend off the flashy ads and growling tummies.

Another example of self-control is how we use our words. There are times when what we want to say to a person is not the best thing to say. It may be hurtful, prideful or offending to the other person; therefore self-control must be used to keep our thoughts to ourselves instead of hurting another. A lot of people today, especially young people, have been brought up to express how they feel openly and honestly – no matter how brutal that is. However when the result is one that gives the impression that it’s all about ME, ME, ME and doesn’t take into consideration the effect those words will have on someone else, the line has been crossed. Holding your tongue does not make you look weak, submissive or even dumb; actually it’s just the opposite.

No One Said It Was Easy to Practice Self-Control, but It IS Worth It

Denial of your desires is hard work, but once you do it’s more than worth the labor you put in to accomplish it. Sometimes we don’t feel like we even need to control our desire. We feel entitled to enjoy and do whatever we want to with little regard for the outcome. This arrogance is often what keeps us from having self-control in the first place and acknowledging those behaviors that need to be controlled. There is never a reason for a lack of self-control. We must be ever aware that we have help and when the desire is before us, we must resist. When the temptation seems impossible to resist God always provides a door of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13.)

To avoid a lack of self-control it must be acknowledged that our excessive wants; our carnal desires; our entitled attitude is not pleasing to God. We need to seek Him in those areas where we lack self-control. Allow Him to work in us to remove the need to gratify our desire to have it all and have it all right now.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to Bible Study for Her via Kindle!